CASE OF DISEASED HEAltT. 
325 
this treatment, his owner procured at a druggist’s an appli¬ 
cation for the skin, the principal ingredients of which w T ere, as 
I am informed, corrosive sublimate and powffiered white 
hellebore, with sulphur and some other matters. The 
proportions of corrosive sublimate and hellebore w 7 ere 
about two ounces of the former to six drachms of the latter for 
making two and a half pounds of ointment. With this the horse 
w r as dressed twice, at intervals of about three weeks, and I 
should think that about three quarters of a pound of the 
ointment were used altogether. During this time his health 
did not seem to be interfered with to any perceptible extent, 
as he fed well and the excretions were natural. 
In the course of about two or three weeks after the last 
dressing he faltered in his feeding, and a slight cedematous 
swelling appeared in the legs, under the abdomen, and about 
the sheath. A relaxed state of bowels also showed itself. 
These symptoms caused my attention to be drawn to 
him ; and which, on reference to my case book, I find was 
on the 12th of Februarv. 
Considering that the bow 7 els required relieving of some 
offending matter, I first administered a slight laxative, 
and afterwards employed tonic agents combined with 
diuretics. It is needless to particularise the exact course of 
treatment which w T as pursued from day to day or the variations 
in the symptoms; suffice to say, that some days the evacuations 
were tolerably healthy, and at others they were in the opposite 
condition. Despite, also, all our endeavours, the swelling 
gradually increased, until it became continuous and of a 
great size from the sternum to the scrotum. The appetite 
also became more and more impaired, and on the morning 
of the 8th of March, on being brought round to have some 
medicine administered, he fell and died without a struggle. 
The pulse, wffiich was feeble, had ranged all the time from 
about 4 5 to 60 in the minute; and although I saw him about 
tw^o hours before his death, I could not detect any marked 
change for the worse. The pulse was then beating both at 
the jaw and the heart quite as strong as on the previous 
day. Indeed, there was not sufficient change in any of the 
symptoms to warrant one in apprehending such a speedy 
dissolution. 
Post-mortem examination, twentv hours after death.—The 
' %/ 
wholeofthe subcutaneous cellular tissue was found to be gorged 
w T ith serous fluid, as were also the thoracic and abdominal cavi¬ 
ties, and likewise the pericardial sac. The liver and kidneys 
were softened in their structure. The intestines and the 
lungs were healthy. The heart was the chief organ affected, 
xxxiv. 25 
